Welcome once more to "8 Questions with...." my ongoing interactive interviews series here on my MySpace page.

I have a few new faces this time around so let me bring the new folks up to speed on this series. Its pretty simple,I interview the folks I have as Friends. It could anyone who strikes my fancy....be it horror writer Rick Reed,master bloggers Ezel and JD,everyday people like Matt in Brighton or even a famous name like singer/songwriter Gretchen Peters. You never know when I might ask for a interview...its just my way of getting to know who is behind the faces here on my MySpace.

 
I have known Lon Lopez for 16 years...back when I booked my first club in San Jose,Calif. The club was Marsugi's,a 150 person punk/alternative music dive. Besides booking such up and coming bands like Weezer,Sublime and The Supersuckers,I got to book a lot of great local talent. Many times Marsugi's was the local groups first gig...and I always enjoyed booking those bands. Lon's band was a cool funk/alternative unit called Statueman...and Lon was the vocalist. While Lon was quiet off-stage, onstage he was a very strong performer and Statueman quickly developed a buzz.

 Lon started becoming a regular downtown and we talked music quite a bit while I worked the door and he kept me company or I supported his band at the Cactus Club. We developed a good friendship which continued after I moved to the EDGE. One of best times I had in San Jose was when Lon and I hooked up for the Super Bowl...we got some KFC, drinks and two great chairs and watched the game.

 We kept in touch even after I moved to Michigan. Lon as a artist is a amazing artist,as a friend,he is one of the most loyal friends anyone can have. I am pretty jazzed he agreed to be interviewed because once you read his interview,I'm sure you'll see why he is one of my better pals!

As always,comments and kudos are welcome...as are any readers you care to send my way!

And now......8 Questions with Lon Lopez.

1. Define what a "fanboy" is to you?

( You know, I've been struggling with this definition myself as of late. I used to think that fanboy was a term nerds called other nerds to actually put them down. But since nerds aren't that great at social ills and most of them are pretty chill and nice, the term "fanboy" sort of evolved into the declaration of like a super-nerd. For example, you might say, I'm a huge comic book nerd, but I'm a total Batman Fanboy. Meaning, you dig comics, but you know more generally about the character Batman. You're super geeky for that character. But if you're a Fanboy all around, and I'm guessing that that's what the term has evolved to now, you're just geeky about all things nerdy – Sci-Fi, Comics, Action Figures, Video Games, whatever. In a way, if you call yourself a fanboy you're pretty much just owning up to being geeky about the nerdy stuff you like. Some guys can talk your ear off about the intake manifold on a Dodge Charger, and we call him a gearhead or something like that, well, I can talk your ear off about the greatness of the first Predator movie and I'm a Fanboy. So that's pretty much it.)


2. What is Moron Life and how did it get started?

(Well, thank you for asking, first off. Moron Life is a couple things, but basically it's a sketch comedy show and website I started about four years ago to showcase the short films and sketches my friends and I were filming in our spare time. I had actually made a short film for Wizard Magazine's Direct to Video Contest in 2003, called, "Oh Yeah, The Return of the Kool Aid Man," and it actually took first place. Once we realized that what we were doing was pretty fun and cool, we thought, maybe we could do it more often and get people to watch. After the contest, "Oh Yeah" got picked up on iFilm. com and we got the idea to start our own site and sketchy comedy show. Now mind you, this was before YouTube, and you couldn't find video on the Internet that prevalently, so we thought we had a great idea of hosting our videos on our own site. The only problem was, bandwidth and storage weren't what they are today and were a little more expensive and harder to get at, but that was what we wanted to do, start an Internet show. Soon after, YouTube blew up, and that just helped everybody with hosting and everything, and now there's video all over the net, and that's way cool. Today, Moron Life is our site that now not only showcases our videos and show, but it's a spot where we focus on the world of comedy and pop culture with various columns from entertainment industry insiders, as well as movie and television reviews and other funny crap. Hopefully.)

3. What 3 things do you like about the Internet?

(I absolutely LOVE the Internet. I'm not sure that most people realize it, but the revolution is finally here! We can do so much with the Internet that it's mind bottling (sorry, I just saw Blades of Glory again last night). I think what I like most is the way it makes our world so much smaller and connected. I was posting some stuff on my website at about three in the morning my time and I needed somebody on a different computer to check to see if the links were working. Well, the only person that was online at that time was my friend in India so I pinged her on the Yahoo IM, and she was able to check my links and even listen to my music. And that was probably my most profound Internet moment. Twelve years ago, I was hustling, trying to sell cassette tapes out of my backpack to promote my band to a few hundred people at a club. Now, anyone in the world, THE WORLD, has access to not only my music, but numerous other artists and bands. It's international distribution with the click of a button. Information is out there, both good and bad, but it's now at our fingertips and I love it. Before, the powers that be wanted to keep us all sedate and uneducated, but now they can't. However, the responsibility is all ours and how we use this immeasurable is entirely up to us.)


4. Hows does one go from being a popular musician to doing comedy? What made you go in that direction?

(Well, some people said my music career was a joke, so I guess it was easy? Just kidding. I don't know how "popular" a musician I actually was, but I've always been a, "performer," since I can't even remember. I think the actual progression came from the fact that I was studying film in college and I was doing music while I was in college and once college was done, and then eventually music was done, I needed something to feed my creative hunger. My friends and I were always all about who could make each other laugh more, so we just figured that since I was already working on film type stuff that it just made sense to transition to comedy. I've been fortunate enough over the course of my "Comedy career" to actually partner up with some great collaborators and actually learn about the art form. And actually, all those years toiling away in the "Music Biz" actually prepared me for the entertainment biz aspect of promoting and producing our show. So, thank God for that, huh?)


5. What project are you currently working on?

(Ooooh, I sound so important. HA! I'm actually working on a project that means a lot to me right now, and unfortunately I'm a little behind schedule. I've currently, for the last three years, been working on a documentary about San Jose's infamous Cactus Club, focusing on the club's history, rise and fall as well as it's struggle with the city of San Jose. We're in the rough cut stage right now, and working on fine tuning it and polishing it up for hopefully a festival run soon. Other than that, Moron Life just finished it's long delayed third season, so we're very happy about that, and hopefully we'll start production on Season 4 by the fall. Aside from that I also contribute every week to the, "Fanboy Planet Podcast" where my esteemed colleagues from FanboyPlanet. com and I discuss all things geek for the week. I try to say busy with whatever project I can get my hands on.)

6. We just landed in San Jose to watch Moron Life film a show but we have 8 hours to kill....you're our tour guide,where would you take us?

(Wow… what a question. Well, first off, San Jose isn't really a touristy sort of town. Well, I guess it can be to some suit type or Yuppie Family or something, but San Jose is just kinda there. San Jose is actually the town where you usually have time to kill between events or shows or gatherings and so you really just try to numb the pain. I wish I could tell you about the cool bar or restaurant that I'd take you to in SJ, but unfortunately the city has probably closed it down. It's kind of a bummer. However, if you were with me, well, we'd probably have to go to Taco Bravo to get some grub, then maybe over to Rasputin's records to peruse the used CD bins, maybe a comic shop to pick up this week's books, and then over to somebody's house to play Rock Band while we kill time. Sorry, I don't get out much I guess.)


7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

( In a Mirr… ah damn, I couldn't resist… You know, that's a damn good question. I'd like to be able to keep doing what I'm doing and actually make a better living at it. I'd love to expand the Moron Life brand and make it even more successful. And I'd actually just like to keep meeting and working with awesome, creative people and keep making cool shit.)


8. Whats your take on this year's Presidental election?

(Man, don't get me started on Politics, I could go for days… I will say this much – It's time we stopped being so childish and partisan about politics in this country. I think most of us want the same thing – A great, strong, responsible USA. I just hate the division that politics creates between us as a people. It's like back to the Internet question, whereas the internet brings us together and lets us share the world and our ideas, politics breaks us all down into sides. Whether Democrats or Republicans, we seem to forget that both are Americans and that we're all on the same side. I still remember a day when Dems and Repubs worked in the same cabinets and we moved this country forward, and I guess that's all I really want out of this next election, is to move the US forward into the brave new world. I will say this, this current race has definitely educated a lot of us on how the civic process works, and remember -knowing is half the battle.)

9. What 3 things do you most enjoy/dislike about MySpace?

(I just want to say that I LOVE myspace and that I'm bummed that it's not as poppin as it used to be. I blame facebook, and just so you know, I didn't sell you out MySpace, and sign up for that crap. I mean, wasn't face book set up for college kids? I've got friends older than me with face book pages. It's sad. I've got my myspace and let me just say, if I would have had myspace back in my younger years of being a musician, it would have completely changed the game. Not only do you have the social networking aspect of the site, but now you've got myspace music, myspace film and myspace comedy. It's basically web hosting for the masses. And it's FREE! When I wanted to promote my brands, I had to register domain names, create web pages, take HTML classes, pay for all the bills and jump through all the hoops and what have you and now it's all right there in one place. People will take myspace for granted as it gets bigger and bigger, but I will always remember all the cool Internet opportunities it has given me. Thanks Myspace!)

10. Any chance for a Statueman comeback?

(Ah… you're referring to my old San Jose Band with little to no notoriety? Well, as fun as those days were, and how much they meant to me, it's probably highly unlikely that the fellas will ever get back together. Mostly because there's no real demand for it, and there's no real place to play here in San Jose, and that's where we all live. You'd be better pressed to hear a Statueman song at a Booty Call (My current Band) show than anywhere else. And Booty Call shows are few and far between. However, Statueman does have a myspace page with a few songs uploaded, so if there is anyone out there clamoring for those songs, they're out there…somewhere.)

To add Lon as a friend:

www.myspace.com/hovitos

Upcoming Interviews:

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